My brother worked on his Manitou Tower a bit. One piece of advice, one or both of the bolts on the bottom of the fork are reverse threaded! They are easy to shear off if you try and unscrew them the usual direction.

Servicing seals

Today I opened it up to install a softer spring, and thought it was a good idea to remove dust seals and foam wipers to clean them.

I removed the external tension spring (the one you see also when the fork is assembled), and tried to remove the seal with a screwdriver, as shown in Manitou's service manual.

I didn't manage to, and unfortunately I damaged the foam wiper under the seal, as well as a further tension spring I wasn't aware of, because was installed internally and so not visible.

I've reinstalled the broken wiper, but I'll need to change it, so now I'll buy new seals and wipers, hope I'll find them somewhere. And that they come with new springs as well. But how will I remove seals? How can I remove the inner tension spring, before I push with the screwdriver?

And, BTW, when you service your fork you do not remove seals, do you? I tried to do it, because I thought I could clean them better, but on second thought likely you should do this only when you have to replace seals.

Having never done a new manitou- and being on my phone and not checking the links- take this with a grain of salt. It's always a good idea to replace seals when you have hem accessible. If you don't, Murphy will rear his disfigured head and they will certainly leak about five hours after you finish the fork. Most seals are pried out gently with a small flat blade screw driver. You want to take care not to mar the seal landing on the stantio n by taking your time and levering a small bit at a time. Also, wrap a few rounds of duct tape around the shaft of the screw driver where it contacts he leverage point on the fork. Stations can be unbelievably soft and you will wonder how they take all the rock hits hey do! Fork overhaul is not for the non mechanical types. More than once I have seen someone end up spending more repairing what they messed up Han if thus just brought a six pack and thier wallet to their local shop. Tread lightly!

This is a bit confusing, it sounds like you are describing prying up seals WITH the stanchions in place? That's a bad idea. Remove the uppers from the lowers and only pry the seals out with the lowers in a clamp/bike stand.

"It's only when you stand over it, you know, when you physically stand over the bike, that then you say 'hey, I don't have much stand over height', you know"-T. Ellsworth

Yep, most of those seals are usually double-lipped, meaning there's a tension spring on the opposite side, it's not just trying to keep stuff out, but keep the stuff inside from going out. The manitou shocks are not high-pressure shocks, so changing the seals is not usually necessary. Even on my marzocchi forks when I had them apart it was not really necessary. If it's seal-changing time in terms of hours (a season on the fork) then it's a good idea to change them. If you take them out for any reason, then yes, change them, because you are going to damage the tension spring (sorry to say this now, as you've already found out). Otherwise, just leave them in.

Usually wiping down the internals is good enough, look for any gunky grease, etc. If you want to go even further, let them soak in a bucket with dish soap. I'd refrain from using harsh degreasers, as manitou's usually have a lot of plastic parts and those might degrade if exposed to degreasers, plus soap is just fine. Then scrub the parts with a small brush and some more soap after setting, then let dry. This usually isn't always necessary though, changing the oil and wiping down the parts with something clean and dry is usually enough. Be sure to re-oil the fork as specified and if it's a semi-bath lubrication type fork, a light wipe-down of synthetic grease is a good idea.

"It's only when you stand over it, you know, when you physically stand over the bike, that then you say 'hey, I don't have much stand over height', you know"-T. Ellsworth

Yes, I've running the fork for one season. The seals seemed perfect, but the foam wipers underneath were dirty (I live in a pretty muddy region), and it's difficult to clean them.

As soon as the new seals and wipers come, I'll do a more accurate work.

Regarding grease, I used one with teflon to lubricate the new spring. Do you think it's OK with Motorex semi-bath oil? BTW now I've bought some 5w-40 synthetic motor oil that, according to Manitou, should be the same than Motorex's.

Removing seals from the lower almost always destroys them. I usually recommend replacing seals when the fork is apart, unless you are really good at changing your bath oil on schedule. If the foam rings are dirty, definitely change the seals/rings. Dirt plus oil makes a great grinding paste for your stanchions. Get those sanding sponges out of there. Don't leave them out, as they hold lubricating oil for the seal.

Anything else I should consider replacing after one season (= almost 1 year) of riding, in severe conditions for some months? E.g. bushings, air piston..?Yesterday I cleaned and inspected the air piston and it seemed as new.